Marshall Football will travel to Athens, Georgia, to take on the University of Georgia Bulldogs for both teams’ season opener.
This will be the second ever meeting between the two teams.
The first contest between the two teams took place on Sept. 18, 2004, when Marshall traveled to Sanford Stadium to take on the, at the time, No. 3 Georgia and fell 13-3 in a relatively close game.
“I love the energy that this group possesses,” head coach Tony Gibson said. “There is a great combination of knowledge and success in football in the room, and these are all guys who know this state, Marshall University and its passion for football.”
Even though Marshall did have a majority of its players transfer out following the 2024 season, Gibson and his staff recruited over 60 new players to form the best possible Thundering Herd team in 2025.
Two new herd players to look out for are new quarterbacks, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Zion Turner.
Del Rio-Wilson spent the last three seasons at Syracuse. He appeared in 14 games with two starts while completing 48 of 102 passes for 624 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 148 yards. He did not appear in any games last season due to injury. However, Del Rio-Wilson did put on a good show at Marshall’s Spring football game, so there is potential for him to shine this season.
Turner is another new recruit for the Herd coming from Jackson State University. He only saw action in one game in 2024, but, prior to Jacksonville State, Turner played for Univeristy of Connecticut where he led the Huskies to a bowl game, the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl which was against Marshall, and he threw for 1,407 yards and nine touchdowns while also rushing for 262 yards.
Even with limited action this past season, Del Rio-Wilson and Turner both show potential to help carry the Herd during this game and throughout the season.
The biggest hurdle for the Herd in this game will be the Bulldogs defense, which many sources (Sports Illustrated, ESPN and independent rankings) show ranked top five in the nation. If Marshall’s offense makes key offensive pushes and is able to break through teh defensive line, this game may end up closer than what many people may think.
The current prediction score is 35-14 in Georgia’s favor.
Marshall is no stranger to tough power conference opponents, playing five (Virginia Tech twice, Notre Dame, NC State and Ohio State) and winning two of those games: Virginia Tech at home and Notre Dame on the road since the 2022 season. So there could be many surprises in store for this start to the Gibson era of Marshall Football.
Nate Harrah can be contacted at [email protected].
